Jesus: Our Ultimate Scapegoat

I remember it like it was yesterday. Bases loaded. Two outs. Final inning of our softball playoff game. With a full count, I checked my swing on a ball in the dirt—or so I thought. The umpire decided otherwise and called strike three.

Just like that, our season was over, and I blamed myself. Any other mistake, error, or missed opportunity that may have occurred during that game didn’t matter. I was sure that the only thing that would be remembered was my check swing on a clear ball four. I’d be the scapegoat. Thankfully, my strikeout wasn’t immortalized in sports history like many other well-known scapegoats—Bill Buckner, Scott Norwood, or Steve Bartman—but the shame I felt was still real.

Have you ever felt like that? Like all the blame landed squarely on your shoulders, whether or not it was fair? It turns out that the role of the scapegoat is not a fun one to play. I was surprised to learn that the term scapegoat actually comes from the Bible’s description of the Jewish Day of Atonement:

When Aaron has finished purifying the Most Holy Place and the Tabernacle and the altar, he must present the live goat. He will lay both of his hands on the goat’s head and confess over it all the wickedness, rebellion, and sins of the people of Israel. In this way, he will transfer the people’s sins to the head of the goat. Then a man specifically chosen for the task will drive the goat into the wilderness. As the goat goes into the wilderness, it will carry all the people’s sins upon itself into a desolate land (Leviticus 16:20-22 NLT).

Our modern use of scapegoat doesn’t come close to the original meaning. We might take the blame for a mistake, but that Old Testament goat was responsible for carrying every sin of the people of Israel into the wilderness. What a vivid picture!

But the good news is that, thanks to Jesus, we never have to bear the weight of our sins—or anyone else’s—on our shoulders. Through His sacrifice, He became our ultimate and final scapegoat. As Peter wrote in 1 Peter 2:24:

He personally carried our sins in his body on the cross so that we can be dead to sin and live for what is right. By His wounds you are healed.

We’ve all sinned; we’re all guilty of the wickedness and rebellion mentioned in Leviticus 16 (Romans 3:23). And the ultimate cost of that sin is death (Romans 6:23). But Jesus already paid that price. Through His death and resurrection, our sins have been carried away—never to be counted against us again (Romans 5:1-2).

Let’s take a moment today to confess our sins to God and praise Him that in Christ, they’ve been removed from us as far as the east is from the west (Psalm 103:12).

Father God, thank You for sending Your Son to be our ultimate and final scapegoat (John 3:16). Thank You that when we confess our sins to You, You remember them no more. Free us from shame and guilt, and help us walk confidently in the forgiveness and redemption we have in Jesus.

But our High Priest offered himself to God as a single sacrifice for sins, good for all time. ... For by that one offering he forever made perfect those who are being made holy. (Hebrews 10:12, 14)

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Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.